Alexander Schimkat, one of the four managing directors of the Couture Society, recently told us that the new platform for fashionistas has just stepped onto the virtual runway (Update – December 2022: The startup seems to be out of business, and we therefore deactivated the original link).
On Couture-Society.com, fashion lovers all over the world now have the chance to order extravagant designer pieces that don’t conform to the mainstream taste. Shortly before its launch, the platform, which originates from Berlin’s creative centre, won the Digital Life Innovation Award from the industry association BITKOM, and is also the prize winner of the founder award IKT Innovativ, which is awarded by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology.
After a global road show, which took the young company to many of the biggest fashion houses around the world and to the shows of promising newcomers, it was possible to win over various designers for an exclusive collaboration.
“Couture Society is a very innovative e-commerce approach within the fashion industry. The notion of an exclusive range and the creative and independent implementation of such a thing on this platform is revolutionary, as otherwise, these products cannot be bought anywhere else,” said Pirjo Suhonen, the General Manager of Ivana Helsinki, after the show at New York Fashion Week.
Customers have direct access to the styles released by designers and can decide themselves what is going to be produced. Stefan Pscheidl, the Creative Director, additionally promises the first 5,000 ‘Founding Members’ of the society access to unique showpieces, tickets for international fashion shows, and meets and greets with designers. Additionally, from now on, every month 3-5 designers will make several of their most creative designs available for exclusive and limited orders. The pieces will be distributed worldwide exclusively by Couture-Society.com. It sounds like these services will certainly offer stiff competition to the traditional fashion industry.
Two designers from Berlin, Dawid Tomaszewski and Michael Sontag, whose shows during Berlin Fashion Week 2011 created an international sensation in the media, along with Tillmann Lauterbach from Paris, will start the project off. Valentino, Martin Grant, Steffi Christiaens, Odeur, Cacharel, Kenzo, Wackerhaus, Minimarket, ESCADA, Versace and many more are to follow.
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